Oil war, gas prices, nukes, nature, healing weeds, food

Wed Jul 16 14:29:00 EDT 2008

Greenspiration news...

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“A Marvel – a message composed by cellist Pablo Casals when invited to
play The Swan for the United Nations General Assembly

‘A Marvel’

Each second we live in a new and unique moment of the universe. A moment
that never was before and will never be again
and what do we teach our
children in school?

We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of
France.

When will we also teach them who and what they are?

We should say to each of them: “You are a marvel. You are unique. In all
of the world, there is no other child exactly like you
 In the millions of
years that have passed, there has never been another child like you.

And look at your body: what a wonder it is. Your legs, your arms, your
cunning fingers, the way you move.

You may become a Shakespeare. A Michelangelo, a Beethoven
. You have the
capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can
you then harm another who is like you
a marvel?

We must cherish one another. We all must work to make this world worthy of
its children.”

~ quoted in Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Monitor,
Dec.2007-January 2008.

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Sunday, June 22, 2008 by the Toronto Sun
These Wars Are About Oil, Not Democracy
by Eric Margolis

The ugly truth behind the Iraq and Afghanistan wars finally has emerged.
Four major western oil companies, Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP and Total are
about to sign U.S.-brokered no-bid contracts to begin exploiting Iraq’s
oil fields. Saddam Hussein had kicked these firms out three decades ago
when he nationalized Iraq’s oil industry. The U.S.-installed Baghdad
regime is welcoming them back.

Iraq is getting back the same oil companies that used to exploit it when
it was a British colony.

As former fed chairman Alan Greenspan recently admitted, the Iraq war was
all about oil. The invasion was about SUV’s, not democracy.

Afghanistan just signed a major deal to launch a long-planned, 1,680-km
pipeline project expected to cost $8 billion. If completed, the
Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline (TAPI) will export gas
and later oil from the Caspian basin to Pakistan’s coast where tankers
will transport it to the West. <snip>

Full article: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/22/9805/

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Canadians want climate action now, poll suggests

Jul 08, 2008, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA-A new poll suggests a majority of Canadians want aggressive
government action to fight climate change, despite skyrocketing fuel
costs.

The findings appear to fly in the face of the notion that Canadians,
shocked by record-high oil and gasoline prices, don't want governments to
drive up their cost of living any further. <snip>

Full article; http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/456475

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Beyond Nuclear

Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the
connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to
abandon both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an
energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic.

Top Stories include:

- Say No to Nuclear Subsidies
- 10 Reasons to Say No to Nuclear: Read and print our handy tip sheet on
why nuclear power cannot address climate change, plus our 10 brighter
ideas
- Debunking the French Nuclear Myths

http://www.beyondnuclear.org/

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Toronto urges limit on kids' cellphone use
July 12 2008

Toronto Public Health is advising children and teenagers to limit their
exposure to cellphones until more is known about the potential health
effects of the devices.

A report from the city's medical officer of health recommends children,
especially pre-adolescents, only use cellphones for essential purposes,
the Toronto Star reports.

Other recommendations for kids include:

- Limiting the length of cellphone calls to five or 10 minutes
- Using headsets or hands-free options whenever possible
- Using landlines whenever possible
- The cellphone policy is believed to be the first of its kind in Canada,
the Star reports. <snip>

<http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20080712/kids_cellphone_advisory_080712/20080712/?hub=TorontoNewHome>http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20080712/kids_cellphone_advisory_080712/20080712/?hub=TorontoNewHome

<http://www.thestar.com/article/459099>http://www.thestar.com/article/459099

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A too rare example of the major media covering the benefits of higher gas
prices - an 11-part article on *10 Things You Can Like About $4 Gas*. It
covers such issues as jobs, sprawl, less traffic and pollution, health and
more.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1819594,00.html

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Disaster Capitalism: State of Extortion
by Naomi Klein, July 3, published in The Nation

Privatizing Iraq's oil, ensuring global dominance for genetically
modified crops, lowering the last of the trade barriers and opening
the last of the wildlife refuges... Not so long ago, those goals were
pursued through polite trade agreements, under the benign pseudonym
"globalization." Now this discredited agenda is forced to ride on the
backs of serial crises, selling itself as lifesaving medicine for a
world in pain.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080721/lookout

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Ecuador Constitutional Assembly Votes to Approve Rights of Nature In
New Constitution

July 7, 2008 

<>http://idealog.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/07/08/story_31952_2.jpg

<>http://www.newscloud.com/read/Ecuador_Constitutional_Assembly_Votes_to_Approve_Rights_of_Nature_In_New_Constitution

Today, the Community Evironmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF)
<<http://www.celdf.org/>http://www.celdf.org/> announced that Ecuador
became the first nation in the world to shift to rights-based
environmental protection. There was a time when people were considered
property (slaves) and this idea is no longer generally accepted in the
developed world. Yet, Ecuador is the first country to begin to codify in
its Constitution the concept that nature is not just property, but has an
inherent right to exist.

On July 7, 2008, the Ecuador Constitutional Assembly °© composed of one
hundred and thirty (130) delegates elected countrywide to rewrite the
country’s Constitution °© voted to approve articles for the new
constitution recognizing rights for nature and ecosystems.

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The Healing Weeds in Your Yard

Many of the lawn-and-garden weeds that people kill with toxic herbicides
actually contain health-giving properties and vital nutrients often
missing from foods grown in depleted soil.

A weedy lawn is often a goldmine of healing and health! Find out what four
of the most common weeds growing in your yard may offer you:

Chickweed: Rich in nutrients, chickweed makes a great addition to the
salad bowl, nourishing to the lymph and glandular systems, and offering
healing for those with cysts, fevers, and inflammations. A good
neutralizer for those with over-acid systems, and beneficial for those
with yeast overgrowth and fatty deposits.

Dandelion: All parts, from root to flower, are beneficial. Good for the
liver, urinary tract, and female reproductive system, dandelion has
cancer- and virus-fighting properties, and is a great beautifier.
Dandelion is also beneficial for insomnia, arthritis, hypoglycemia and
diabetes. Sap from a cut stem may be used to treat blemishes, corns,
stings, warts and other skin problems.

Nettle: Yes, they can sting you but if you gather them carefully and
tincture or cook them, nettles are a fabulous source of calcium–a must to
prevent osteoporosis–and a great ally for regrowing thinning hair. They
are a tonic for the kidneys and adrenals (if you’ve been stressed or
fatigued, nettle is the ally for you) and for the respiratory system,
offering healing for asthmatics and those with other bronchial and lung
complaints.

Red Clover: Herbalist Susun Weed says red clover offers menopausal women
many of the benefits of soy without any of the drawbacks. It is one
ingredient of traditional spring tonics to purify and revitalize the
entire system, high in calcium and compounds that are useful in treating
bronchitis and other respiratory conditions.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-healing-weeds-in-your-yard.html

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"... filling one SUV with ethanol uses as much corn as an African family
eats in a year."
<<http://www.thestar.com/News/article/451023>http://www.thestar.com/News/article/451023>

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The Toronto Star recently featured a three part in-depth look at the
current world food crisis as it relates to fuel production and climate
change.  

Part 1: Global food crisis
<<http://www.thestar.com/News/article/451023>http://www.thestar.com/News/article/451023>
A single grain of rice symbolizes the breakdown of the global food system.
In recent months, prices of staples have jumped and millions have joined
the ranks of the marginally fed. Lynda Hurst looks at how the system went
so wrong so quickly.

Part 2: Biofuels vs. food
<<http://www.thestar.com/news/article/451291>http://www.thestar.com/news/article/451291>
If you were trying to develop a less effective means of kicking the
gasoline habit and coping with climate change you'd be challenged to
improve on North America's misguided biofuels policy, which is centred
on corn-based ethanol and is contributing to the global food crisis.
David Olive analyzes at the ill-conceived rush to ethanol.

Part 3: Fighting to survive on a mountain of trash
<<http://www.thestar.com/news/article/451592>http://www.thestar.com/news/article/451592>
A spike in rice prices means increased hardship for millions of Filipinos
living on less than $2 a day. Bill Schiller reports from
Manila.

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